Sunshine Punch & Grape Salad from a Bridal Shower

A few days ago, I wrote about a bridal shower here and promised I would share a couple of the recipes from it.  If you aren’t already “acquainted” with this grape salad, it is very easy to assemble and a yummy one to make for a ladies’ luncheon or even a lunch for your family.  Please note that it makes a lot!

You will need:

2 lbs. red grapes

2 lbs. green grapes

8 oz. sour cream

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

For the topping:  1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup nut topping (usually found on the ice cream aisle of the grocery store.)

directions:

Rinse and dry grapes.  Pull all the grapes from the stems, and place them in a large serving bowl. 

 Mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, white sugar, and the vanilla.  I normally “cheat” and mix them with the hand mixer so that there are no lumps in it.  Then pour this over the grapes and mix it through thoroughly.

Then mix together the brown sugar and the nut topping.

Live and learn…use real nut topping - not the topping I mistakingly bought  (Parlor Perfect Praline Crunch), and sprinkle it liberally all over the top of the grape salad. 

And another Live and Learn…I thought the topping looked waaaay too thick on top, so I stirred it all in.  Don’t do that.  It tends to lose its crunch.  Leave it all on top so you will have that crunchy texture in every serving.

Now for the punch recipe….Growing up, I remember going to weddings and parties where the punch was often a green slushy type drink made with lime sherbet and gingerale.  Do you remember that?  I loved it as a child, but as an adult it just doesn’t seem to mix well with finger foods – too heavy I think.  I found this recipe for Sunshine punch many years ago.  It is a good punch to use when you are serving a crowd, and you don’t want to use alcohol.  It also works very well for a brunch.  I can’t even begin to count the number of times that I have made up the base and transported it to the place of the event where I added the final amount of water and ginger ale.

I suppose it is called Sunshine due to all the citrus drinks in the recipe (from the Sunshine state, maybe?) or perhaps just due to the color of the punch.  Here are all the ingredients you need.

1 cup sugar                                                       3 oz. frozen orange juice

1 cup hot water                                                 1 liter ginger ale

2 cans frozen lemonade (6 oz. each)                1 orange

6 oz. frozen limeade                                         1 lemon and 2 limes

(* Wally-world did not have the juices in the sizes I needed for this.  Follow the measurements in the recipe – not the photograph.)

 

Mix the sugar and the hot water in a pan over low heat.  Stir until dissolved.  (This will make a simple syrup.)  Allow to cool.  Then add the undiluted cans of lemonade, limeade, and orange juice.   (This is the base and can be made ahead and refrigerated.)

Slice the orange, lemon, and limes.  Add the sliced fruit, 64 ounces of cold water, 1 liter of ginger ale, and ice when ready to serve.

Do you have a “go-to” punch that you have found works well for many occasions?  Please share!